十八世紀末起，大英帝國為拓展商貿利益，日益重視中國市場，因而與大清帝國展開前所未有的接觸。在來華英人中，小斯當東 (George Thomas Staunton, 1781~1859) 自12 歲跟隨馬戛爾尼 (George Macartney, 1737~1806) 使華開始，便接續以東印度公司職員、外交使節、國會議員等身分，經歷外交協商、自由貿易、鴉片銷華等影響雙邊關係的重要議題，其一生幾乎與鴉片戰爭前的中英關係相互呼應。本文將探究小斯當東對大清帝國觀感的變化及其在英國對華政策中所產生的影響，並討論他面對中英兩大帝國互異的文明認知與文化傳統時，如何尋求個人的調適與定位。

Due to its commercial and trade interests, the British empire attached great importance to the China market and had built up unprecedented contacts with the Qing empire since the late eighteen century. Among the British who visited China, George Thomas Staunton (1781-1859), who accompanied the Ambassador Extraordinary George Macartney (1737-1806) to China when he was twelve years old, continued to participate in number Anglo-Chinese issues, including diplomatic negotiations as a vice-ambassador, free trade disputes as an officer of the British East India Company, and opium selling in China as a member of parliament, all of which had great impact on Anglo-Chinese relations. His life therefore closely corresponds to the sum of Anglo-Chinese relations before the Opium War. This article explores how he changed his view of the Qing empire and evaluates his influence on Britain’s China policy. It also discusses how he accommodated himself to different concepts of civilization and cultural traditions between China and Britain.